Vision for Becoming an Intercultural Church
God exists in community, and we are invited to be in community together.
Individually and in community, we do everything through the lenses of our cultures: there
is no such thing as a culture-free perspective. Our experiences and understandings are
shaped by our cultures. Since we cannot capture the complexity of God through our limited
cultural understandings, our understanding of God is limited when we see this God through
only one dominant cultural perspective. Instead, our understandings of God and our
scriptures can be deepened when we come together, as disciples of Jesus Christ, in all of our
differences and diversities to acknowledge intercultural reality and richness.
We strive to become an intercultural church to deepen our understandings and
experiences of God and of one another. Within The United Church of Canada, a variety of
cultural expressions of faith are affirmed and welcomed. Part of the vision of the
intercultural church is to create a space where we can sustain our own cultural identities
while also affirming those of one another.
Intercultural is described as the call to live together in intentional ways where there is the
mutual recognition and understanding of difference through intentional self-examination,
relationship building, and equitable access to power; it is also our attempt to respond
faithfully to such a call.
An intercultural church is one that is:
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welcoming. It
is open, accepting, joyful, and life-giving;
trusts that God’s Spirit opens all to new and different experiences, however challenging,
painful, and uncomfortable at times;
seeks to use inclusive and expansive language in worship and community life, and
honours diverse language in policy statements and official declarations;
maintains a commitment to mutuality, full participation, and radical welcoming as part
of the church’s mission and ministry.
relational. It
affirms, honours, and treasures the God-given differences present in the context of its
communities—recognizing that there are a variety of cultural expressions of faith;
offers a positive vision of community as a whole, with critical engagement within and
between cultural perspectives;
recognizes reciprocal relationships among and between one another, and our
responsibilities to live in right relationship with all of creation;
strives to become a culturally diverse and multilingual community.
The United Church of Canada
L’Église Unie du Canada
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adaptive. It
lives with God’s grace enabling it to accept mistakes, and learns and grows from the
past;
opens itself to be vulnerable;
continually affirms diverse cultural identities to avoid assimilation into dominant
cultures;
is not afraid to engage in transformation of heart, mind, structure, and policy—
including continually adapting to change when change is called for.
justice-seeking. It
steadfastly and authentically seeks to share resources, redress power imbalances, and
challenge systemic injustices, while seeking full and equitable participation of all—both
inside and outside of the church;
faithfully addresses racism and White privilege;
recognizes the churches’ complicity in historic injustices and tries to do things
differently;
commits itself to becoming a globally minded, engaged, and justice-seeking community.
intentional. It
seeks to be enriched by different cultural perspectives, and knows that what we hold in
common does not deny difference;
creates spaces for courageous conversations;
proactively cultivates diverse leadership, particularly within cultural communities that
have been historically minoritized and underrepresented;
engages in self-examination, life-long learning, and reflection through ongoing prayer,
education, training, consultation, monitoring, and evaluation of its intercultural
engagement.
missional. It
seeks to discern, acknowledge, and embody biblical and theological bases for becoming
an intercultural church;
affirms that the God of mission has a church in the world, and that we—in all our
differences—are active participants in God’s mission.
Church in Mission Unit
The United Church of Canada
3250 Bloor St. West, Suite 300
Toronto, ON M8X 2Y4
Toll Free: 1-800-268-3781
E-mail: [email protected]
“Vision for Becoming an Intercultural Church” was adopted at the Executive of General Council (GCE) in
October 2012, as part of the report “Intercultural Ministries: Living into Transformation.”
The United Church of Canada
L’Église Unie du Canada